Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



G. W. WHITE.

Breach-Loading Fire-Arm.

No 37,369. Patented Jfm. 6;1863

llniirEn STATES GEORGE IY. VHITE, OF NEYV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-RMSL Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,369, dated January 6, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. WHITE, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-Loading Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being made to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specication, in which- Figure I is a side elevation, partly in section. Fig. II is a top or plan view. Fig. III is a view oi' a part in detail, and similar letters indicate similar parts throughout the figures.

My improvement lies in the manner of constructing and operating a plug or stopper for closing and opening the breech of the barrel.

It consists of a piece of metal made to fit against the rear end of the barrel, and having upon it a short projecting cylindrical or slightly conical part, which enters the bore,

, being made to t it closely, when the breechpiece is held up to the rea-r end of the barrel, and which stopper is to be operated by rst moving it to the rear, on the line ofthe bore, to a distance which will withdraw the part entering the bore, and then removing the whole at a right angle, or nearly so, to the line of the bore, so far away from the bore that a cartridge may be readily inserted. The manner in which I prefer to carry out this method of closing and opening the breech is to mount the breech-piece upon the end of a 'cylindrical plug, which shall have a motion in the direction of its axis at a right angle with the line of the bore, and have also a rotary motion about that axis.

In the annexed drawings, a represents the breech-piece, which is of steel, having a projecting part, a, slightly conical in form,which extends into the barrel, and is made to fit the barrel closely when in the closed position, as seen in Fig. I. As the breech-piece is to be moved directly backward and forward in the line of the bore in the act of opening and closing the barrel, some guide will be necessary to prevent it from turning.V This is readily ai'- forded by making it, in top view, in the form of a rectangle, as seen in Fig. II, and having the opening in the stock in which it is to move of the same form and size from side to side of the stock, but extending farther to the rear than the breech-piece itself, and forming generally a square, as at b. On this piece a the nipple maybe placed, and altouch-hole drilled to admit the lire through the projection a. The piece a is aflixed upon a cylinder, c,

Vwhich iits closely, and moves within the square b, being caused to rotate by a lateral' movement of the guard d, and to move in the direction of its axis when so rotated by the action of a cam-groove, e, working upon a permanent pin, f, affixed to the stock. From the lower side of the breech-piece a strong pin extends down into the cylinder c, as shown at h in section in Fig. III, and in dotted line in Fig. II. The hole c in the cylinder which receives this pin is circular, and set eccentrically; but the pin itself fills the hole only in a direction parallel with the bore of the gun, and this pin is to be so much less in that diameter at a right angle with the direction oi the bore that if placed at one side of the hole c the space between the other side of the pin and the other side of the hole will be equal to the distance that the projection a extends into the bore. Thus by giving to the cylinder c one-fourth revolution in the direction indicated in Fig. III the pin, being solid with the breech-piece, would be carried directly backward and withdraw the projection a from the barrel. The relative positions of the pin 7L and of the hole c will then be as shown in dotted line in Fig. III. cam-groove c is so cut that during this motion it has caused nolengthwise motion of the cylinder; but as b`y the partial rotation described the breech-piece is clear of the bore, the cam e has from that point a rapid curve, as shown, so that when a half-rotation has been reached the breech-piece will have been moved downward in the square b, so that its upper edge will be below the line of the'bottom of the bore, the parts then being in the position shown in Fig. I in dotted lines. By reversing the movement of d.' the barrel is again closed. A groove should be cut around the pin 7L and a set-screw be placed through the cylinder to take into it, in order 4that the two may not be accidentally separated.

I claim- 1 l. The method of closing the bore by means The of a breech-piece constructed and operated substantially as set forth.

scribed my name. 2. The manner of giving to the breechpiece the two motions described-that is to I Y VHIT-E say, the combination of the said piece with the l VitneSses:

rotating cylinder by the pin h, substantially J. P. PIRSSON,

as set forth. l S. H. MAYNARD.

In Witness whereof I have hcrennto sub4 

